en feet square and perhaps seven or eight feet
high. Between this cage and the wall is a space of eighteen inches in
width. It has a narrow door, and an opening through which the food is
passed to the prisoners, and a conduit leading out of it. Of course it
soon becomes foul, and in warm weather somewhat warm. A recent prisoner,
who wanted more ventilation than the State allowed him, found some
means, by a loose plank, I think, to batter a hole in the outer wall
opposite the window in the cage, and this ragged opening, seeming to the
jailer a good sanitary arrangement, remains. Two murderers occupied this
apartment at the time of our visit. During the recent session of court,
ten men had been confined in this narrow space, without room enough for
them to lie down together. The cage in the room above, a little larger,
had for tenant a person who was jailed for some misunderstanding about
an account, and who was probably innocent--from the jailer's statement.
This box is a wretched residence, month after month, while awaiting
trial.

We learned on inquiry that it is practically impossible to get a jury to
convict of murder in this region, and that these admitted felons would
undoubtedly escape. We even heard that juries were purchasable here,
and that a man's success in court depended upon the length of his purse.
This is such an unheard-of thing that we refused to credit it. When the
Friend attempted to arouse the indignation of the Professor about the
barbarity of this jail, the latter defended it on the ground that
as confinement was the only punishment that murderers were likely to
receive in this region, it was well to make their detention disagreeable
to them. But the Friend did not like this wild-beast cage for men, and
could only exclaim,

"Oh, murder! what crimes are done in thy name."

If the comrades wished an adventure, they had a small one, more
interesting to them than to the public, the morning they left
Bakersville to ride to Burnsville, which sets itself up as the capital
of Yancey. The way for the first three miles lay down a small creek and
in a valley fairly settled, the houses, a store, and a grist-mill
giving evidence of the new enterprise of the region. When Toe River was
reached, there was a choice of routes. We might ford the Toe at that
point, where the river was wide, but shallow, and the crossing safe,
and climb over the mountain by a rough but sightly road, or descend the
stream by a better